St Thomas New Grad Program

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Hello,

So I have an interview coming up at St Thomas West in Nashville for their new nurse residency program. I was wondering if anyone on here knew anything about the program? I tried calling but never even got a human being on the phone. I know they're starting the next one April 6th, but how many people will they take? There's three different routes and different campuses as well, but I'm wondering what my chances are like. I'm struggling finding that first nursing job, so I'm interviewing today for a nursing home position. But if I started at the nursing home, I'd have to leave within a month if I got the residency....that would be very unprofessional. Any advice??

thanks for this, I am interviewing next week and am really nurses. do they offer jobs right after you interview with them, or do you wait around a little. Do you know how much the pay is and do they offer relocation assistance? I am doing an interview over the phone so i feel like my chances are smaller :(

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@stell917 thanks for this, I am interviewing next week and am really nurses. do they offer jobs right after you interview with them, or do you wait around a little. Do you know how much the pay is and do they offer relocation assistance? I am doing an interview over the phone so i feel like my chances are smaller :(

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Let me know how it goes for you. I'll be applying for the fall start date.

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They do offer right on the spot for the residency program. I didn't even wait 5 minutes before someone from HR came to me and said I had been offered. There's a good mix of in and out of state, so that's not really a factor. I also didn't have any work experience as a CNA or anything. It's honestly really easy to get hired here. You can accept the job without signing the contract, but tread carefully. Someone was walking around saying the people who wanted to "think about it" clearly weren't committed and there were other people who wanted to take their place. I think they give you a couple days tops to think about it. But it won't go into effect until the start date.

Just be really, really careful. The culture at this hospital is not good right now. Once you complete your 15 weeks of rotations you're basically on your own. Don't expect to have much support unless you have a fabulous manager. It's not good for a new nurse. But if it feels like a really good fit for you, go for it. Trust your gut. Some advice I got recently and I wish I had had it before I signed the dang contract--Have an attorney look at it for you. They should have sent you a copy with the interview invitation or shortly thereafter. Ask for it if they haven't. Don't sign anything without legal advice. It's kind of a fishy thing to do and no other residency program in Nashville that I know of makes anyone sign a contract and hold you to an $8000 "training cost".

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They do offer right on the spot for the residency program. I didn't even wait 5 minutes before someone from HR came to me and said I had been offered. There's a good mix of in and out of state, so that's not really a factor. I also didn't have any work experience as a CNA or anything. It's honestly really easy to get hired here. You can accept the job without signing the contract, but tread carefully. Someone was walking around saying the people who wanted to "think about it" clearly weren't committed and there were other people who wanted to take their place. I think they give you a couple days tops to think about it. But it won't go into effect until the start date.

Just be really, really careful. The culture at this hospital is not good right now. Once you complete your 15 weeks of rotations you're basically on your own. Don't expect to have much support unless you have a fabulous manager. It's not good for a new nurse. But if it feels like a really good fit for you, go for it. Trust your gut. Some advice I got recently and I wish I had had it before I signed the dang contract--Have an attorney look at it for you. They should have sent you a copy with the interview invitation or shortly thereafter. Ask for it if they haven't. Don't sign anything without legal advice. It's kind of a fishy thing to do and no other residency program in Nashville that I know of makes anyone sign a contract and hold you to an $8000 "training cost".

Thank you! Do they offer you a position for a specific track? I want to work in the ICU and there hasn't been a spot to tell them which track you would like to interview for yet.

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Yeah, you don't get to pick a track unfortunately. When you interview, really emphasize that you're interested in critical care. They tend to mostly hire techs who have already been working in the ICU for the critical care track, but I know in my cohort they chose some more who hadn't. It depends on how many openings they have. The majority are put on the med/surg track so just make it really clear you want to do critical care and that's your best shot.

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Yeah, you don't get to pick a track unfortunately. When you interview, really emphasize that you're interested in critical care. They tend to mostly hire techs who have already been working in the ICU for the critical care track, but I know in my cohort they chose some more who hadn't. It depends on how many openings they have. The majority are put on the med/surg track so just make it really clear you want to do critical care and that's your best shot.

Awesome, thank you! Do you find out what track you get on the day of the interview?

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Stell917 thank you so much for all your advice. I really can't thank you enough. I appreciate your time in answering mine and others questions.

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Really not a problem rn_to_be07! I wish you the best of luck!!

As far as tracks, I think they'll email those who were specifically chosen for "special" tracks like critical care, L&D, and cardiac sometime before the start date. I don't think anyone knew the day of the interview. At least that's how they did it for our group!

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@stell917 so if i have a history working as a tech in an ICU, do you think i would have a good chance? Why do you not like the system so much. I visited the hospital and loved it so much so i worry now. i really appreciate your opinion and this is so helpful. Do you know if they offer relocation assistance?? and how much do they pay? since you work there now, do you know of anyone who did a phone interview?

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@stell917 I meant to ask what are your typical nurse to patient ratios? Thanks!

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@shelshel123 did you interview? How did it go? Any advice? Thanks!!

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